An Irish Catholic bishop said on Monday that homosexuality — like Down’s syndrome or spina bifida — was not part of God’s plan, and that same-sex couples with children were “not necessarily parents.”

In an interview with the NewsTalk Breakfast radio program, Elphin Bishop Kevin Doran argued that voters should reject an upcoming referendum to legalize same-sex marriage because LGBT couples could not procreate.

According to Doran, it was not a “sin” to be gay, as long as people did not “behave” like homosexuals.

“What the church asks of people who are homosexual by orientation is exactly the same as what the church asks of people who are heterosexual, that they reserve sexual relationships to marriage,” he explained. “Now, it’s a completely different question to say that we believe marriage is between a man and a woman.”

The radio host asked the bishop people being born gay was “as God intended.”

“That would be to suggest that some people are born with Down’s syndrome or spina bifida, that that was what God intended,” Doran opined. “The thing about it is, I can’t see it in the mind of God.”

“The things you mentioned are disabilities,” the host pointed out. “Your sexual orientation is not a disability.”

“Well, I’m not entering into that,” Doran replied. “I’m just saying it would be wrong to suggest that everything that happens, happens because God intended it. If that were the case, we’d be talking about a very different kind of God.”

Doran also argued that allowing same-sex marriages would be a “redefinition of parenthood.”

“People who have children are not necessarily parents,” he argued. “They may be recognized in law as their parent, but the whole relationship between life giving and parenthood is being separated.”

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David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.